North Koreans Banned From Laughing During Mourning Period For Kim Jong Il’s Death
December 17 of this year marked the 10-year anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il, father and predecessor of North Korea’s current leader, Kim Jong Un. To honor the psychopathic leader, there will be 11 days of mourning. Citizens cannot drink alcohol, laugh, or engage in leisure activities, a resident from the border city of Sinuiju told Radio Free Asia.
Grocery shopping will be banned on December 17.
What might be the punishment for violating the anti-laughing ordinance? Well, we’re talking about North Korea, after all.
“In the past many people who were caught drinking or being intoxicated during the mourning period were arrested and treated as ideological criminals,” the unnamed citizen said. “They were taken away and never seen again.”
Citizens will not be able to carry out funeral rites or services or even celebrate their own birthdays if those events should occur within the mourning period.
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